Title: The Green
Director: Steven Williford
Cast: Jason Butler Harner, Cheyenne Jackson, Julia Ormand, Illeana Douglas, Bill Sage, Karen Young, Christopher Bert, Boris McGiver
Gay cinema, perhaps understandably, was for a period of many years preoccupied with coming out, which, as a defining moment in the lives of many homosexuals, was ripe for dramatic exploitation. There are, though, of course thousands of other stories that are a part of the gay experience, and so it’s its own small success that something like “The Green,” about a juicy suburban sex scandal in a world tipping ever closer to true marriage equality, could unfold, and only tangentially and occasionally be about its main character’s sexuality. A generally well sketched drama that fumbles away its accrued admiration late in the third act, “The Green” is sort of three-fifths of a good movie, which is certainly more than a lot of films can say.
Having moved from New York City to a suburban spot in Connecticut years ago, Michael (Jason Butler Harner) and his long-time partner Daniel (Cheyenne Jackson) live quiet, simple lives. Michael works as a drama instructor at a local private high school, while Daniel works as a caterer. His special interest in a troubled kid on scholarship, Jason Williams (Christopher Bert), proves Michael’s undoing, however, when a public confrontation is misconstrued and the janitor, Leo (Bill Sage), who’s been seeing Jason’s mother, Janette (Karen Young), convinces her that there might have been some inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances toward her son.
Suddenly, Michael is suspended from school and at the center of a media circus — all of which is compounded by a torn-up Jason’s unwillingness to speak about the matter. As things deteriorate with his colleague and best friend, Trish (Illeana Douglas), Michael turns to a new lawyer, Karen (Julia Ormand), with experience in these sorts of situations. Her necessarily probing questions, however, bring up a past incident about which Michael has not been fully forthcoming with Daniel. Suddenly life in this small town doesn’t so idyllic anymore, for anyone involved.
Interestingly enough, “The Green” is the feature film screenwriting debut of Paul Marcarelli, the Verizon Wireless “Test Man” commercial guy, who wanders around asking if people can hear him now. His writing — as well as the steady direction of theater and daytime television veteran Steven Williford — is for the most part smart and even-keeled, evidencing a desire for well-rounded characters and naturalistic interplay. “The Green” is smooth and unforced in its set-up; everything feels believable, and of the same place.
Cinematographer Ryan Samul delivers a nice looking film that doesn’t overly fetishize the bucolic surroundings, but instead makes measured use of them. And the performances are nice, too. As the more cautious Michael, Harner captures the engrained, don’t-rock-the-boat mindset of a slightly older generation of gay men than his partner. Too rarely seen, meanwhile, Douglas and Ormand each put their own nice imprint on characters that challenge Michael, either explicitly or implicitly.
In short, everything about “The Green” is credible, and engaging — which is why it’s so disappointing when, in its home stretch, Marcarelli delivers a lame twist that feels like a sop to some mythical general audience that would never in a thousand years seek out or surrender to this film. This immediately drains the movie of intrigue, and cuts against the beautifully restrained craftsmanship and acting on display in scenes where Michael conveys the truth about a past arrest to Karen, or Trish and her husband try to goad Michael into several decisions without making him feel abandoned.
It would have been interesting, perhaps, to delve into a he-said-he-said scenario, in the fashion of David Mamet’s “Oleanna.” Or even to opt for more ambiguity, and leave the question as to Jason’s silence up in the air. But the pivot that Marcarelli seizes upon is devoid of grittier exploration or deeper feeling, and kind of wastes many of the supporting characters such painstaking care has gone into creating. It’s a sordid grab for attention that would feel perfectly at home on a some small screen episodic procedural, but feels woefully out of place in this drama.
So, does one throw the baby out with the bathwater, or forgive “The Green” its by all accounts fatal miscalculation? It’s a matter of perspective, really. There’s a lot to like here, in the details. One just wishes the ending wasn’t so dependent on what others thought of it.
Technical: B
Acting: B
Story: B-
Overall: C+
Written by: Brent Simon
